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The novelist said he screamed “Liar” at the BBC every day for two years over its coverage of Israel following October 7.
By Shula Rosen
Booker Prize-winning novelist Howard Jacobson said his new novel, Howl, was shaped by what he described as overwhelming “rage” following the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli civilians and the reaction he observed in sectors of British society.
Speaking in an interview on the Unholy podcast, Jacobson said the emotional state that informed his writing was difficult to define. “I think I used the word to myself to soften what was in fact rage, a rage so ungovernable that I didn’t know what else to call it,” he said, describing a cycle of anger that persisted throughout the day.
Howl centers on a London headmaster struggling to process what he sees as a moral breakdown after Oct. 7, including reactions he found troubling among educated circles.
Jacobson said the novel required separating his personal feelings from the narrative. “You have to distance yourself from the narrative of your feelings,” he said, adding that he needed to “break the umbilical cord” between himself and the story.
He said many Jews experienced a similar emotional intensity in the months after the attack. “You needed to hear it, even though after a while, you knew what you were going to hear,” he said, referring to repeated exposure to media coverage he viewed as misleading.
The novelist said he screamed “liar” at the BBC every day for two years over its coverage of Israel following October 7.
Jacobson also described backlash to his public commentary, saying it led to personal fallout. “Quite a few people parted company with me at that point,” he said.
The novel incorporates exaggeration and dark humor in its depiction of antisemitism and hostility in London.
Jacobson defended this approach, saying fiction allows for exploration beyond strictly documented events. “Once you allow comedy in, you do run all the risks of exaggeration,” he said.
He expressed doubt that literature can significantly shift public opinion, particularly in what he described as an “age of non-reading,” where audiences tend to seek out views that align with their own.
Jacobson also spoke about a sense of unease among British Jews, saying that while he does not feel constant fear, he remains “distantly anxious” about public sentiment and ongoing anti-Israel protests in London.
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